Chapter no.1 The Darkness and The Boy

I opened my eyes to darkness.
All I could see before my eyes were black.
There, I was in the pitch black dark that spread like a tabernacle influence before my eyes, I was unable to distinguish any shape in this unknown place.
' Maybe there is something wrong with my eyes.' I thought so I blinked.
Even after closing my eyes a few times and opening them, all I could see was still thick darkness that remained like the smell of corruption over a police station.
In this place of no light, I tried to move but it felt like my arms were tied with chains
My body didn't move as I wanted it to.
There was no strength in my hands and feet.
My whole body felt helpless.
The only thing that can move was my eyelids. I couldn't control the other parts of my body at all.
'There is nothing wrong with my eyes.'
I couldn't be sure because I couldn't even recognize his limbs right away, but I instinctively realized that there was nothing wrong with his eyes.
If I became blind..... wait, no don't think like that.
Think positively.
I couldn't have gone blind since there was no abnormality in my senses so the space in which I lay was unusually dark. A pitch-black location with no light coming in.
'Underground?'
I thought of the possibility.
' Maybe someone buried me alive.'
I morbidly thought since I had never heard of a building built with human technology that can block out light so perfectly.
If so, then there was a high probability that the space I was lying in was a basement or a perfectly closed space where light could not reach me.
'Why did this happen?'
I slowly traced my memory.
Who am I?
And why was I in this situation?
My head throbbed as I tried to jog my memories.
I couldn't think of anything, as if my brain had been struck by something.
It hurt or maybe I was just so dumb that thinking hurt my brain.
A few tears soon streamed from my eyes. It was as if someone had put a finger in my head and swung it around.
I forcefully swallowed the scream of pain.
It was painful, but I didn't stop thinking.
Then, little by little, my memory returned.
' I don't have a name but the prostitutes near the dump I called my home were always mockingly called Lin Jing or Liánhuā Jing. I think I am fourteen years old.'
A drifter who aimlessly wanders the world like an orphan without parents going from one place to the next in search of his next meal.
He had no roots, no dwelling place except for the dumps he regularly stayed at.
I furrowed my eyebrows in a frown.
Again, the pain rushed in like a tidal wave. Yet I forced myself to think.
With my lackluster identity found now, it's time to figure out why and how I ended up here.
'Him.'
Suddenly I recalled a man who remained in my last memory. A middle-aged man whose characteristics were a plain face and sharp eyes that did not match.
The man who I had stumbled upon while begging during the local lord's engagement festival had said, " Hmm, I didn't expect a reaction from you of all people."
That was the last memory of Lin Jing.
At the end of those words, I lost consciousness and woke up in the dark.
The man in my memories must be related to why I was left alone in such a space where no light enters.
I did not know the man's name or identity.
I didn't even know why he was locked up like this.
It couldn't be because of a grudge.
There was no way that an orphan who was just wandering, would be the target of resentment so deep that someone would do this.
Don't tell me, I pissed off some insecure young master by talking to the prostitute that has to pretend to enjoy doing it with him.
' That's highly unlikely, there must be some kind of purpose— a goal.'
If the captor aimed to kill me, then they would have already killed him. They would not have gone through the trouble of locking me up without killing me. So they obviously must have some need or purpose for me.
My heart sank when I thought that I was going to sell into slavery.
I closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Whether I opened my eyes or closed them, there was no change. I wondered what it meant to close my eyes since my surroundings remained dark.
Still, closing my eyes was less painful than keeping them open.
I was hungry but not by much since I had endured much more painful times of hunger.
I didn't know how much time had passed.
Whether I had already lost my mind or was maintaining it, the boundaries were blurred.
My head was a mess.
Still, I struggled to find a clear spirit.
After a while, my mind became clearer as if my efforts paid off or maybe the injury to my head had finally healed.
Who knows?
"Hu!"
I was surprised by the involuntary sigh that escaped from me.
The last time I woke up, I couldn't even breathe heavily.
All I had to do was keep breathing hard, and I couldn't even dare to take a deep breath like this.
Being able to breathe deeply was a sign that body functions were returning to normal.
Maybe it was an illusion, but I decided to think positively.
It was painful to be alone in the darkness without a single light. The darkness made a person think a lot.
He who does not understand your silence will probably not understand your words.
Thoughts like these would flood in like a tidal wave, controlling the mind and body. The overflowing thoughts would be enough to drive a person crazy or religious, I still couldn't tell the difference.
Even more for someone like me, who was unable to move.
Maybe I should listen to my thoughts, but I know I wouldn't become Buddha rather I would become a lunatic.
The sense of isolation, as if this solitude in the darkness of the beginning, corroded my mind little by little.
If time continued to go by like this, it was clear that I would go crazy with my thoughts.
Therefore, I tried to think positively and cleared his mind.
'My name is Lin Liánhuā or Liánhuā Jing or Lin Jing. Oh great, I can't even remember the name a bunch of prostitutes would throw at me.'
Amid my countless thoughts, I tried to think only of things related to my lackluster identity but all I found was nothing.
At the end of the day, I was just a nameless orphan who begged in front of schools to get sympathy from children and their parents. I used the little money I would get to eat. Even if I die in this place, who would miss me.... no one?
I didn't know how much time had passed.
It could have been just one day, or it could have been weeks.
It was impossible to comprehend the flow of time in such deep darkness.
Moreover, my whole body was paralyzed and I wasn't getting any close to becoming Buddha but I was getting close to becoming a lunatic so that was something I guess.
All the activity of the body had fallen to the floor.
As long as I was barely holding my breath, most of the functions were at a standstill.
Because of that, I couldn't even feel hungry.
Maybe this is how a corpse feels when in the grave.
This was the most terrifying moment of my life.
To overcome the fear, I muttered endlessly.
"My name is Lin…
Time continued to pass like that.
My fingers moved slightly.
It was proof that power was returning to my body.
Although I wasn't sure what kind of expression I would be making because there was no light or mirror, my face must be glowing with joy or sadness that I didn't die.
Little by little, the sensation of the whole body was returning.
Power entered my fingertips, and my sense of smell was revived.
The damp smell felt through the tip of my nose was telling me that this place was underground, as I had guessed.
However, the fact that this place was underground was not very important to me.
The most important thing for him is that the senses of my whole body are returning.
My fingers wiggled, and I could feel a cold sensation in my toes.
I felt that I was alive or maybe I was in hell.
Then again it didn't make much difference.
My life and hell weren't so much different if I think hard enough.
It was unfamiliar for me to feel grateful just for the slightest sensation, but just being able to feel the fact that I was alive somehow made me feel more breathless.
I was going crazy in struggling to maintain my identity. If only a little more time had passed like this, I certainly would have gone crazy or I would have made up a few Deities to pray to. No, I couldn't even be sure if I was crazy right now.
No, that doesn't matter at all, I thought.
I was just happy to know that now the sensation of my limbs has returned.
With a little more effort, I will soon be able to move my arms and legs.
But there was one downside.
As the senses of my whole body returned, the functions of my organs were also revived.
As the function of the organs was restored, I began to feel extreme hunger.
The squeezing feeling in my stomach as if washing laundry was painful but I have had worse.
My mouth was so dry that the wetness of my salvia gave me a sense of euphoria.
It was then that I realized that I was dying.
I couldn't eat anything while I was trapped here, so
It was clear that if I did not eat food for a few more days, I would die.
There were only two options left for him.
Go crazy, or starve.
My mouth was twisted.
Deep in my heart, anger rose toward the man who had locked me here.
Anger soon became hate.
'What the hell did I do wrong?'
It's a question I had asked myself dozens of times. But no matter how much I thought, I didn't do anything wrong.
I didn't even beg in front of the man.
I was just passing by that had bought a luxurious burnt bread with what little money I had to eat.
But the man grabbed me and threw me into this hellish place.
Respect for human beings, courtesy towards oneself, etc. did not exist even after washing my eyes.
No matter how insignificant I was, I shouldn't have been treated as inferior to an insect.
At least if treat me like a human.
It was clear that the man did not consider me human. That's why I found myself in such a hellish place.
'Why?'
I questioned why I should be locked up
here if I didn't do anything wrong.
If I didn't do anything wrong, then there was
no reason to be trapped here.
Still, if I had been trapped here, it was clear
that the man had done so with some clear
I contemplated on what the purpose of
the man was.
But there was nothing I knew about him
If I knew anything about him, I could infer even a little bit, but I didn't have any information about the man.
I bit his lip.
I felt the flesh ripping out and the blood flowing. Even after such a mess, my blood still seemed warm. That fact relieved me for some reason maybe because I still felt like I was alive.
••●••••●••••●••••●••••●••
Fingers moved.
It was not at the level of being paralyzed like before, but it was enough to open and close it as I wanted.
The sensation in my feet has also returned.
Now I was able to turn my ankles slowly.
The hunger was still the same. So it remained painful. Still, I was not frustrated.
He looked like he was going to die of hunger, but the fact that his hands and feet were still moving– gave him hope.
I held on to that glimmer of hope.
What he needed now was a faint hope that he could live.
He knew well that the moment he let go of that hope, he would fall into a pit from which he could not climb again. So, he held onto hope like crazy and stretched out.
His nose smelled a variety of odors that he would never normally smell.
The smell of moisture in the air, even the moisture rising from the floor.
His ears were also wide open.
His senses were so sharp that he could hear the faint sound of water running down the wall.
What he needed most for his survival now was a sip of water.
He felt like he could sell his soul to the devil just for a sip of water.
"Huo!"
A rough breath came from my mouth.
His mouth was dry and cracked like a dry paddy field, and his upper and lower lips were glued together. In such a situation, the sound of harsh breathing was squeezed out and it hurt as if his flesh was being torn.
The more force was applied to the abdomen, the harsher breath flowed out, making it painful for me. Still, I did not stop giving strength to my abdomen.
He didn't want to be hungry anymore.
He didn't want to be thirsty anymore.
So, to turn over, he applied strength to the abdomen.
He struggled to transmit the power from his abdomen to his limbs.
He had been motionless for a long time, and his whole body was as dry as firewood.
If he had time to spare, he would have studied how to slowly revive his muscles, but unfortunately, he didn't have much time left.
If he keeps on waiting like this, he will soon run out of breath.
He had to move before that.
"Kkeueu!"
In the darkness, a groan like the cry of a beast rang out.
I did everything I could even if it meant dying
My body trembled slightly as if my efforts had paid off.
The excitement grew, and when it finally reached its peak, I exploded the ever-gathering power in a short time.
"Kerhyuk!"
With a scream, my body flipped.
I felt the touch of the floor on my chin and forehead.
I shivered at the terrifyingly cold yet humid feeling. After a moment, I began desperately crawling toward the place where he could hear the sound of the running water.
He wriggled like a snake and advanced a little.
Sark! Sark!
His jaw was torn and blood flowed on the floor, but I did not stop moving.
Time passed like it didn't care for me.
I finally managed to stop myself and reach the wall.
Blood splattered as I hit my forehead against the wall, but I didn't even feel pain.
I stuck out my tongue which touched the wall.
A refreshing feeling on the tongue.
It was water.
I licked the flowing water hurriedly in panic.
"Huh! Hoo-up!"
In the darkness, only the sound of my desperately drinking water echoed.
It didn't matter if I drank like a dog, it didn't matter because in my desperate situation I found water that tasted like ambrosia.
Truly in desperate situations, we find the value of small things.